What book are you reading?

[DirtyDesertRat]

I'll be checking some of those titles out. My wife's grandfather used to run cattle from the Mexico border up into Colorado, real cattle drives. Are you from the Four Corners area?

Not from here, but I've lived here for the past 25 years. Those old timers running cattle in these parts were the toughest of the tough.

 

[mxz800]

I'm reading Killing Lincoln, I thought I knew everything about the assassination, I'm finding out that isn't the case.

 

[Zorba]

I'm reading Killing Lincoln, I thought I knew everything about the assassination, I'm finding out that isn't the case.

Just started "The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton".

 

[Squatch]

Just started "The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton".

Saw a documentary or two on him a couple years back. What a character!

 

[Zorba]

Saw a documentary or two on him a couple years back. What a character!

A guy after my own heart in many ways.

 

[chili_pepper]

Operation Paperclip. I suspect some (possibly younger) members here may have never heard of it, others likely have but don't know all the details. I fell in the latter category, well aware it was a thing but lacking the gory details.

Currently about 25% of the way through "Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America" by Annie Jacobsen.

Just finished this. There's a bit to it, not simple subject matter. Even though I was aware of the program before reading, I found the book interesting, informative and enlightening. I think the best summary of who this book might suit would be from an interview quote by the author:

Q: Who should read "Operation Paperclip"?

A: Anyone who enjoys reading about Nazi scientists, American history, defense science, the military, the aftermath of World War II, and the unexpected consequences of victory. "Operation Paperclip" is about the people whose work greatly impacted America's military-industrial complex, which is deeply ingrained in the world in which we live today.

The only way to navigate a better future is to be honest in the understanding of how we got to where we are now, in every aspect of human existence. It's not pretty, but it's reality.

I think a Jimmy Doolittle autobiography is up next.

 

[BlueC]

Just finished this. There's a bit to it, not simple subject matter. Even though I was aware of the program before reading, I found the book interesting, informative and enlightening. I think the best summary of who this book might suit would be from an interview quote by the author:



The only way to navigate a better future is to be honest in the understanding of how we got to where we are now, in every aspect of human existence. It's not pretty, but it's reality.

I think a Jimmy Doolittle autobiography is up next.

You, "enlightened"? Your post made me think of something, I've never heard/read much of anything about the Germans that the Soviets got. I'm familiar with Paperclip and the generalities around that, but I don't know a thing about the Germans that went the other way. I need to look into that. Wild guess here, but I'm betting the majority of those stories end with a Gulag.

 

[chili_pepper]

You, "enlightened"? Your post made me think of something, I've never heard/read much of anything about the Germans that the Soviets got. I'm familiar with Paperclip and the generalities around that, but I don't know a thing about the Germans that went the other way. I need to look into that. Wild guess here, but I'm betting the majority of those stories end with a Gulag.

A small bit of that is covered in the book, but mostly as it applies to those lost from the US viewpoint and a few that "escaped" and ended up here. Pretty filthy business, regardless.

 

[Zorba]

A small bit of that is covered in the book, but mostly as it applies to those lost from the US viewpoint and a few that "escaped" and ended up here. Pretty filthy business, regardless.

Sounds like I need to put that on the to-read list. I'm quite familiar with Paperclip - but I'm sure that I'm not "that" familiar! Thanx for the rec...

 

[steelhd]

The only way to navigate a better future is to be honest in the understanding of how we got to where we are now, in every aspect of human existence. It's not pretty, but it's reality.

I think a Jimmy Doolittle autobiography is up next.

If you were enlightened by reading about Paperclip look into books about Japan's unit 731 and how members weren't prosecuted for war crimes. Makes Paperclip look like harmless nursery school stuff .
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/japans-hellish-unit-731/

 

[BlueC]

Japan's unit 731

I just learned about Unit 731 within the last 5 years. I haven't had time to read much or deep into it, or maybe I haven't had the stomach for it, but what I have read is just appalling. The Japs really made the Nazis look amateurish in their general disregard of life.